Judging from the tutorials I’ve seen, you’d be forgiven for thinking you need a postgraduate diploma in photography and $10,000 worth of equipment to capture a simple fireworks display. I’m going to apply some MakeUseOf logic and say that’s not true, provided you follow a few basic rules and are happy to experiment.

While July 4 has passed for another year, there are plenty of other opportunities to catch fireworks around the globe in 2013 and beyond. With a few pointers, it’s possible to capture more than a few out of focus squiggles and digital grain.

Here are my top tips for getting the most out of your camera during a firework display.

Adapt for Conditions

In most situations, a photographer will have to focus and expose for a subject, such as a person or building. This subject must be bathed in light, in perfect focus and follow some sort of aesthetically pleasing composition. Well, you can forget all of that when it comes to fireworks.

At a fireworks display, light isn’t just a factor, it’s your subject. You won’t be carefully focusing on a nearby object but a distant flare that won’t necessarily be there while you set-up your shot. Fireworks themselves are fleeting, varied and changeable. Light intensity, colour and spread change in a matter of seconds – no two displays are the same, and no two exposures are the same either.

Focus, Shutter & ISO

Assuming you are shooting with a digital SLR or prosumer that offers you a high degree of control over the manual settings on your camera, you will need to pay particularly close attention to your focus, shutter and ISO settings. Most firework displays, at least the large ones, take place at a fair distance from the crowd. This means you’ll get best results by focusing for infinity on your camera. You can easily achieve this by enabling manual focus, and then exposing for maximum distance.

Shutter speed plays a huge role here. If the shutter isn’t open for long enough, your scene will be too dark and won’t capture enough light. In the same way a long exposure works by “burning” light into an image in lines, fireworks can be used in a similar way to create striking trails as the pyrotechnics play out, just like in the image below.

If your camera has a shutter priority mode, use it to set a slow shutter speed. A speed of half a second and slower will provide interesting results, so experiment. The image below is the result of around 13 minutes of exposure at Disneyland, hence the brilliant lines and smooth curves. Shooting full manual also works, just set a wide aperture (low f-stop number) of around f/3.5 – 5.

Last of all, the ISO setting you choose dictates how grainy the overall image will be. Seeing as fireworks displays take place at night, a camera in Auto mode would automatically choose the highest, grainiest ISO to capture as much light as possible. You can override this and choose something a little less extreme. Experimentation is key, but a wide aperture and long shutter speed should negate the need to take your ISO beyond 400-800 in most cases.

Then again, don’t resist the urge to turn it up if your results are disappointingly dark.

Bring A Tripod

If you want good-looking fireworks photos, you’ll need a stable base from which to shoot. Fireworks leave largely straight, sleek curves and lines as they travel and explode, and squiggles aren’t a very welcome addition. Do the right thing and bring a tripod. A monopod or makeshift leaning surface may also suffice – the whole world can be a tripod with a bit of persistence.

The straight lines seen in the photo above would not have been possible shooting handheld (though the image does appear to have been “mirrored” to achieve that perfect symmetry in post-processing too). No amount of Photoshop would have made up for a handheld, shaky exposure though which would have resulted in a blurry mess. You don’t necessarily require an expensive professional tripod for these results, just something steady to lean on for the duration of the exposure.

Listen to Your Camera

While you can prepare for certain conditions, you’ll also find there are other factors that you can’t prepare for. Fireworks displays generate smoke, which can really throw-off your exposure settings as light reflects. In this instance, you’ll need to experiment and use the results on your camera’s screen to judge your technique. You can do this using the simple image review method: does the image look good, is it exposed correctly, are there any blown-out or underexposed details?

Rock Up Early & Pick A Spot

Where you choose to shoot from can make all the difference. If you’re stuck at the back of a crowd, you might catch a few hands or heads in your shots, and you’re bound to miss out on “the view”. Simply put, many fireworks displays are designed to make the most of the town, vista or water scene they take place in front of. For the best results, try and incorporate your surroundings into the shot.

Wide-angle lenses are great for this, and if you can capture a whole firework’s trail from the ground to its explosion, just like the photo above which makes wonderful use of the lake reflection, then you’ve probably got something the local paper will happily pay you for.

Picking your spot is important mainly because firework displays don’t last all that long. Once the barrage begins, you may only have about 10 minutes actual shooting time. Don’t waste the moment by moving around – make the most of the display instead.

If the fireworks display happens to be particularly major – say a New Year’s eve display in a large city – you might not need to move far to get some particularly impressive results. Take the photo above, taken in Sydney to usher in the new year. Using a telephoto lens with a long focal length from such a distance is a great way of making the background (and fireworks) appear closer.

Don’t Just Look Up

Is it me, or are the fireworks not the be-all and end-all? I remember from the many Guy Fawkes bonfires I experienced growing up in Britain, as well as the more recent Australia Day celebrations I’ve experienced down under that there’s more to fireworks than explosions in the sky.

The atmosphere of a display, the reactions of the crowd, the laughter, food and sparklers – don’t forget to look around you too. Fireworks aren’t just a focal point, they are often the culmination of an event. Don’t get caught up in the technicalities of shooting gunpowder and magnesium and miss some of the more human aspects of celebration.

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Jack T

July 30, 2013 at 12:45 am

When I was stationed in Panama their independence day fireworks started as soon as it was dusk until after midnight. From my apartment we could watch the start, take a break to have dinner and go back out on the balcony and continue watching. The finally lasted longer than some of the small US town's entire show.

These are great tips, Tim. I have what I guess you referred to as a "prosumer" camera. I call it a "bridge" camera: more than a point-and-shoot but less than a dSLR. It is perfect for me since it does what I need it to do for the money. As much as I would love a Canon EOS, Nikon, etc., I can't justify paying that kind of money for what I use a camera for. So these tips were exactly what I needed to read. I also need to read my manual more too. :)

I never know what to call those cameras :) They generally provide a lot of camera for your money though when to comes to optics and features, and while they might not be as robust as SLRs (primarily for the interchangeable lenses, which cost so much), they're quite the step up from a simple point and shoot.

If ever you do consider an SLR, you might want to consider a good second-hand (maybe refurbished) model as an upgrade. There's a lot of money to be saved from buying pre-loved kit!

Also a great tip is to take a black paper and put the camera on for a long shutter speed or even bulb position on the camera might be possible and as soon the fireworks starts, just start shooting and once in a while cover the lens with the black paper while the camera is still shooting. The results might be beautifull because you can catch multi fireworks on that same picture.

Tim, I will be forever in your debt for this great little article. I now know that I will be able to take effective and great looking fireworks shots and I cannot believe how easy you have made it sound.
Again many thanks.

Great tips - many carry-overs from the good old days of film! But you won't get these using your phone camera :)

Like Steve below, I noticed that fifth photo was a bit too symetrical to be a shot without a mirror or post-processing. However, the comments about shooting handheld vs. tripod are very relevant for night and long duration shots.

Yep, most definitely post work - I've adjusted the body text to make that more clear. Thanks for your eagle eye!

You're right, smartphone cameras are notoriously bad in low-light, and a lack of long exposure means you're never going to get these impressive light trails. Well, not on this generation's cameras anyway. As ever, I'm excited to see how far we'll be able to push our smartphones in the coming years!

How do you use a histogram for a nighttime picture? Isn't most of the image black or dark?

Tim Brookes

July 29, 2013 at 12:53 am

Dick (I have to reply here, I'm not sure you'll see it as we're rather deep, conversation-thread wise) -

The histogram was mainly pointed out (albeit briefly) as being the only sure-fire way of finding out on a technical level how that last photo turned out. I'm sure most cameras now come equipped with great LCDs, but the older ones certainly didn't. My Nikon D50 doesn't provide a very accurate image preview, things look blown out or too dark when they're actually fine (and it's the contrast ratio of the screen to blame).

So in this case, the histogram is the only "accurate" measurement, though you're right - much of it would be dark. Then again, you can always get an idea of how much of your image's highlights are blown out too, which might help you adjust exposure time or ISO.

I was being a lower case dick before. An upper case Dick would be nothing but a good thing, surely? ;)

Steve

July 26, 2013 at 1:00 pm

That 5th shot (the symmetrical one) looks like a Caleb Charland. Was that an actual mirror or post-processing?

It's almost certainly post processing, and I have adjusted the article to make this more clear. My intention was to emphasise the perfect trails, but I think that got a little caught-up in the symmetry. It would be mind-boggling to think it wasn't Photoshop work, really don't you think?

Very good Article Tim,
That is definitely mirrored shot, every single trace is starting at the same height on both sides which in not happening in the real world. Ingenious idea for the shot btw, and not taking anything out of composition from the author.
Also you listed 13 minutes as the time for exposure, but i think you meant 13 seconds
Cheers

Have you got any tips for taking low light level photos for my website http://www.jmfdisco.co.uk - I have problems taking good photos in low light disco locations - the use of a flash washes out all the colour?